Thread removing apparatus



Dec. 18, 1956 c. s. ALLEN, JR

THREAD REMOVING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 16, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. OM24 55 J. Au EMJQ ATTORNEY Dec. 18, 1956 c. s. ALLEN, JR

THREAD REMOVING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 16, 1954 R m w W.

CHARLES S. ALLEN, J12.

A TTORNE Y United States Fatent G gin-l TIREAD REMOVING APPARATUS Charles S. Allen, Jr., Greenville, S. C.

Application August 16, 1954, Serial No. 450,187

Claims. (Cl. 19-90) This invention relates to devices for processing textile mill waste and more especially to'an apparatus particularly adapted to remove threads from such waste preparatory to further processing of the waste.

Heretofore, most devices employed for this purpose have consisted primarily of horizontally disposed elements having horizontally, disposed shafts running their entire length. These devices in which the waste is conducted in a horizontal longitudinal path are primarily for the purpose of opening, blending and cleaning the waste. During the operation of these devices threads wrap around the horizontally disposed shaft on which heaters are mounted and it is very difiicult to remove the threads from the shaft since the shaft is of a uniform cross section and primarily because of the obstruction presented by the heaters.

Accordingly it is an object of this invention to provide a device in which threads may be removed from textile mill waste in a convenient manner prior to further processing of the waste. Such a device as described herein will be particularly adapted to the processing of spinning mill waste since threads are found in greatest abundance in waste from this phase of textile mill operation.

Another object of this invention isto provide a versatile device which may be cheaply vconstructed, largely from standard parts, which acts as the first step in the opening, blending and cleaning process in the treatment of textile mill waste and which will be particularly adapted to the convenient removal of threads from the waste prior to its further processing.

It is another object of this invention to provide a thread removing device for use in the treatment of textile mill waste in which a vertically disposed driven substantially conical element is provided on which threads may build up during the rotation of said element and after a substantial amount of such threads have built up on the conical element they may be removed therefrom by sliding the threads off the small end of the cone.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a thread removing device having a driven rotatable element provided with a plurality of spaced heaters projecting from its periphery and in which means are provided for withdrawing the heaters within the conical element preparatory to removing the threads said rotatable element being of such configuration that the threads may be pulled off when the heaters have been withdrawn.

I accomplish these and other objects of my invention by providing an apparatus for removing threads from, textile mill waste comprising a frame which is preferably vertically disposed, a housing mounted within said frame, a rotatable element also carried within and spaced from said housing, a shaft on which said rotatable element .is fixedly mounted, said shaft being rotatably carried by the frame, driving means for rotating said shaft, a plurality of spaced heaters carried by said rotatable element, said spacing being staggered for best results, means for introducing waste into the space between the housing and the rotatable element, means for removing the processed Waste, means for withdrawing the beaters into said conical element and means for opening the housing so as to remove the threads which have been built up on the rotatable element said rotatable element being of such configuration that the threads may be pulled off when the heaters have been withdrawn. A fan or a blower may also be provided for producing an upward draft in the space between the housing and the rotatable element to facilitate in the removal of the processed waste from the housing.

Some of the objects having been stated above others will become apparent to those skilled in the art relating to the treatment of textile mill waste when the specification is read in connection with the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. l is a perspective view of the device with some of the parts broken away and some of the parts shown schematically for purposes of clarity of illustration,

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of the housing and rotatable element with parts broken away for the purpose of illustrating the details of construction, and

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken substantially along the line 33 in Fig. 2.

Referring more particularly to the drawings the numeral 1'0 broadly designates a vertical frame for supporting the other elements of the apparatus. The frame 10 is shown in the drawing as being constructed of six vertically disposedcolumns 12'formed of channel members. Four horizontally disposed channel members 14 are secured at their ends to the tops of the columns 12 by any suitable means such as welding. A base is provided for each of the columns 12 in the form of plates 16. Horizontally disposed stiffener members 18 are provided in the form or" channel bars and are spaced below the channel members 14. It will be noted that the frame need not necessarily be of this vertical type since it is not necessary but preferable that the elements of the apparatus be mounted in a vertical position.

A vertically disposed downwardly tapering housing, broadly designated at 20 having a circular cross section is secured to a transversely disposed channel member 22 by any suitable means such as angles 24 which are shown welded to the channel member 22 and the housing '20. This downwardly tapering or conical housing 24 is divided vertically into two similar sections 20a and 25b which will be described in greater detail below. While the housing is preferably of the configuration described it may he of any desired configuration, the important thing being that a space or passageway be provided between the housing and the rotatable element described below.

A second downwardly converging element preferably having a similar configuration to the housing 24] so as to provide a space therebetween is broadly designated at 26 and is shown secured to a vertically disposed shaft 28 as by welding at 30 and 32. If desired this connection can be made removable by employing set screws instead of welding. It will be noted that the shaft 28 is rotatably mounted in a thrust bearing 34 adjacent its upper end, the bearing 34 being positioned on a transversely disposed channel member 35 which is shown disposed above the channel member 22. It will be noted that the trans verse horizontally disposed channel members 22 and 36 are positioned closer to one end of frame 10 than the other so as to allow room for one-half of the conical housing 201) to be opened so as to provide means for gaining access to the rotatable element as will be described in more detail below. The shaft 28 is also rotatably mounted in a second thrust bearing 36, alined with the first bearing 34, which is in turn secured to the channel member 22 as by bolts 36a.

7 Driving means are provided for rotating the shaft 28 in the form of a variable speed electric motor 40 which 7 poses of description it is understoodthat any suitable driving means may be employed. 7 V 7 'Referring now particularly to Figs. 2 and 3 it will be noted that the rotatable conical element 26 is constructed of sheet material and has downwardly converging side walls 26a, a top portion 26b and a bottom 260. It will also be noted that the conical element'26 is provided with spider members 50 and 52 to provide the necessary rigidity to enable the conical element 26 to rotate and act as an integral unit.

A plurality of spaced heaters 54, which may be of i any suitable configuration, are shown fixedly secured on threespaced shafts 56, 58 and 60 respectively, as by set screws 62. The heaters 54 are of such a shape that they can be easily withdrawn into the element 26 through slots as will be described below, as well as provide an effective beater action. These shafts 56, 58 and 60 are secured Within suitable bearings 64 adjacent each of their ends and in the medial portion thereof.

It will be noted that each of the heaters 54 are equally spaced on their respective shaft but that the spacing is staggered with respect with the other shafts to make for a uniform beating action and to permit the heaters 54 to be withdrawn into the conical element'26 through the slots 66 provided therefor as will be noted by referring to Fig. 3. It will be further noted that the lower ends of each of the shafts are provided with a square shank onto which may be fitted a square wrench for the purpose of turning the shaft and withdrawing the heaters 54.

It will he noted that a circular hole 70 is provided in the middle of the top 72 of the conical housing 20, one purpose of which is to allow the shaft 28 to project there: through. The conical housing'20 is ,also provided with sidewalls 74 and a bottom 76. It will be noted that ,a section of the housing designated b is adapted to be opened, as is shown in Fig. 1, by virtue of its'being mounted on hinges 80 and 82 which are in turn secured to the section of the housing designated 20a by any suit: able means such as welding. It will be noted that suitable fastening means are provided to secure the two sections 4 by the element 26 and the hole 70 and the outlet 90. Normally this draft would be suflicient together with'the natural tendency of the waste to rise and the blower 92 would be unnecessary and would be used only if a stronger draft became necessary or desirable to' remove the processed waste. If desired holes or apertures (not shown) could be added in the bottom 76 of the housing 20. This would prevent waste from becoming lodged in the space between the bottom 76 and the element bottom 266.

If desired gear, spring orlever means .(not shown) could be provided to facilitate the withdrawing of the heaters 54 in lieu of the square ends 56a, 58a and 60a which are adopted to be turned by a wrench. The device could be further modified to add to its waste cleaning abilities by making the housing 20 of foraminous material. It is thus seen that I have provided a device for removing threads from textile mill waste employing a rotatable element, surrounded by a housing for confining the waste, which is of such a configuration (may even conceivably be of uniform cross-section) that the threads may be easily pulled off after withdrawing the heaters into the rotatable element. The feature of the withdrawable heaters being the most important advance in the art contemplated by the present invention.

Whilea preferred embodiment of my invention has been described using specific terms, such description is for illustrative purposes only, and, it is to be understood that changes and variations rnay be made without departing from thespirit or. scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim as myinvention:

1. An apparatus for processing textile mill waste comprising a frame, a vertical housing having walls of circular.cross section tapering-from a large upper end to a relatively small lower end mounted within said frame, 7 a rotatable element of substantially conical configuration 20a and 20b together in the form of latches 84 and 86 provided with pins 84a and 86a. It will be noted that a resilient element 98 is provided to assist in holding the bottom 76, which is integral with the section 20b and hence opens therewith, in its desired position.

a A hopper or trough 88 is provided adjacent the bottom of the housing 20 and'itwill be noted that one side 88a 7 is longer than the other side 88b so that waste tends'to be pulled into the space or passageway between the housing 20 and the rotatable element 26 in the direction of rotation of the element 26. A similar outlet 90 is pro- 1 positioned within andspaced from said housing so as to form a passageway between the housing and the rotatable element,.a plurality of spaced shafts rotatably mounted within said rotatable element, a plurality of spaced beaters fixedlyfmounted on said shafts projecting outwardly from the rotatable -element through slots therein, means for turning said shafts so as to'withdraw the beaters entirely within the. conical element, a hopper adjacent the small end of the housing for introducing waste into the space between the housing. and the conical element, means adjacent the large end of the housing for removing the processed waste and hinge means :for'op'ening-a section of the 'housingfor removing the threads which have been built upon'the conical element by pulling the threads off thesmall end ofthe conical element after the I heaters have been withdrawn.

2. An apparatusfor processing textile mill waste comprising a frame, a vertical housing having walls of circular cross section tapering from a large upper end'to a relatively small lower end mounted within said frame, a rotatable element of substantially conical configuration positioned within and spaced from said housing so as to form a passageway between the housing and the. rotatable element, a shaft rotatably mounted on the frame on which said rotatable element depends and is fixedly mounted,

, driving means for rotating said shaft at a predetermined bottom by makingappropriateadjustments to the other i apparatus. l

A plurality 'of spaced blades or fans 94 are suitably secured to the top 26b of'the element 26 as by welding. When the device is in operation and the element 26 is rotating to provide the necessary beater action and 'to build up threads thereon, these blades 94 provide a draft through the hopper 88 passing up the passageway defined speed, aplurality of spaced shafts rotatably mounted within said rotatable element, a plurality of spaced heaters fixedly mounted on said shafts "projectingvoutwardly from the rotatable element through slots therein, said heaters on each of said shafts being spaced in staggered relation tothe heaters on the'othe'r shafts, means for turning said shafts so ,as to withdraw the heaters entirely within the conical element, a hopper adjacent the small end of the housing and the conical "element, means adjacent the large waste and hinge means for openinga section of thehoushousing 20 and through the a ing including the bottom of the housing for removing the threads which have been built up on the conical element by pulling the threads ofi the small end of the conical element after the heaters have been withdrawn.

3. An apparatus for removing threads from textile mill waste comprising a frame, a housing mounted within said frame, a rotatable element positioned within and spaced from said housing so as to form a passageway between the housing and the rotatable element, driving means for rotating said element, a plurality of spaced beaters carried by said rotatable element, means for withdrawing the beaters into the element, means for introducing textile mill waste into the space between the housing and the element, means for removing the processed waste and means for opening the housing so as to remove the threads which have been built up on the rotatable element by sliding the threads off the rotatable element after the beaters have been withdrawn.

4. An apparatus for processing textile mill waste comprising a frame, a housing having Walls of circular cross section tapering from a relatively large end to a relatively small end mounted within said frame, a rotatable element of substantially conical configuration positioned Within and spaced from said housing so as to form a passageway between the housing and the rotatable element, automatically operable means for driving said rotatable element at a desired speed, a plurality of spaced beaters carried by said rotatable element, means for withdrawing the beaters into the element, means for introducing textile mill waste into the space between the housing and the element, means for removing the processed waste and means for opening the housing so as to remove the threads which have been built up on the rotatable element by sliding the threads otf the small end of the rotatable element after the beaters have been withdrawn.

5. An apparatus for processing textile mill waste comprising a frame, a housing having walls of circular cross section tapering from a large upper end to a relatively small lower and mounted within said frame, a rotatable element of substantially conical configuration positioned within and spaced from said housing so as to form a passageway between the housing and the rotatable element, automatically operable driving means for driving said rotatable element at a desired speed, a plurality of spaced shafts rotatably mounted within said rotatable element, a plurality of spaced beaters fixedly mounted on said shafts projecting outwardly from the rotatable element through slots therein, said beaters on each of said shafts being spaced in a staggered relation to the beaters on the other shafts, means for introducing waste into the space between the housing and conical element, means for removing the processed Waste, means for turning said shafts so as to withdraw the beaters entirely within the conical element and hinge means for opening a section of the housing for removing the threads which have been built up on the conical element by pulling the threads 05 the small end of the conical element after the heaters have been withdrawn.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 348,394 Hillard Aug. 31, 1886 1,224,648 Johnson May 1, 1917 2,090,925 Wilkinson et a1 Aug. 24, 1937 2,686,953 Pike Aug. 24, 1954 

